Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 59 stories
LivestockWith El Niño expected to bring below-normal rainfall and heat to South Africa's 2026/27 summer, livestock advisers urge farmers to match breeding to grazing, check bull fertility and body condition, and vaccinate well before mating.
CropsThe North West provincial government has set up a packhouse at Jantjies Boerdery to help lucerne farmers in Taung process and pack their crop and move further up the value chain.
LivestockThe Technology Innovation Agency is backing TokaBio's Molecular Rapid Response and Bio-surveillance Programme, which runs mobile and fixed laboratories to detect livestock diseases that cost South Africa export markets.
AgribusinessSpeakers from the Land Bank, the wine industry, Joburg Market and a Johannesburg food store told a Future of Food Conference panel that specifications, packaging, pricing and relationships matter as much as the product.
In a column for Food for Mzansi, Sacau chief executive Ishmael Sunga argues that youth- and women-led poultry businesses need blended finance, shared infrastructure and offtake contracts to grow from survival farming into medium-scale enterprises.
LivestockSinethemba Gebashe began with a mud-brick broiler house in 2011, lost it to heavy rain, and with municipal help and R400,000 in provincial funding now supplies eggs to wholesalers and aims for 5,000 layers.
HealthA study of 533 children aged 9 to 15 in three Western Cape farming areas found household pesticide use linked to biomarker levels up to 57% higher and recent spray drift to levels up to 30% higher.
LivestockBuhlebenkosi Mbatha's Incoso Goat Meat buys goats through a farmers' association, packs cuts in-house for retailers and hotels, and has an export deal for Dubai.
FruitsGlobal demand for dragon fruit is rising, but South African producers face high set-up costs, invasive-species permits, wet subtropical summers and shoppers used to bland fruit, growers tell Food for Mzansi.
FruitsCitrus Research International's Citrus Irrigation, by Dr Philip Myburgh and Dr Johan van Zyl, combines research and grower experience on irrigation strategy, over-irrigation, water quality and treated wastewater.
OpinionSeriti Institute's farm programme lead says the hub near Durban trained 697 people and 171 farmers, but its real test is what farmers, cooperatives and markets can keep going once the partners leave.
At the South African Future of Food Conference, lenders and funders said capital exists for farmers but unmanaged risk, missing collateral and business readiness keep it from reaching them.
Small-scale livestock farmers in the Northern Cape town received maize, pellets and protein supplements as drought dries up grazing and water, with Khobab Wind's community programme backing the support.
